The present invention relates to a cathode material used in a lithium battery in which lithium or a lithium alloy is used as an anode material, and a method for producing the same.
Various sulfides and oxides have hitherto been proposed as cathode materials of lithium batteries. Compound oxides and amorphous compounds have also been proposed. For example, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 59-134561/1984 discloses a cathode active material composed of a solid solution prepared by adding phosphorus pentaoxide to vanadium pentaoxide and burning the resulting mixture, followed by rapid quenching. Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2-33868/1990 discloses a cathode formed of an amorphous powder prepared by melting and rapidly quenching a mixture of vanadium pentaoxide and 30 mol % or less of phosphorus pentaoxide. Further, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 62-176054/1987 proposes a lithium battery comprising a ternary oxide compound consisting of V.sub.2 O.sub.5, Li.sub.2 O and P.sub.2 O.sub.5 as a cathode material. Even if these cathode materials are used, however, the problem can not be solved that the repetition of charge and discharge causes a reduction in capacity. Accordingly, no cathode material satisfactory in cycle stability has been obtained yet. As to the amorphous compounds, it has been desired to obtain the stable compounds easily.